The Internet has become a primary communication channel for the world, as it continues to grow in traffic volumes and reach. The types of applications supported over the Internet are also changing, from basic applications such as web browsing to applications with real-time constraints such as Internet Protocol (IP) telephony. As traffic volumes grow, network providers must maintain sufficient capacity for the existing traffic and plan for the growth in traffic volumes. By more efficiently utilizing existing resources within a network, network providers can delay the need to replace network hardware.
A router is a specialized computing device for routing and forwarding data packets over a network. A router includes a routing information base (RIB) that stores the set of routes advertised from neighboring routers, and a forwarding information base (FIB) that maps incoming packets to outgoing links. The RIB includes attributes and reachability information for hundreds of thousands of prefixes, including information about each neighboring router's forwarding capabilities. A router maintains the RIB by exchanging information with neighboring routers, and updates the FIB based upon the new information.
The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates similar or identical items.